The Boston Bruins still don't have a firm idea of which team will be their opponent in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they probably won't for a while.
The standings in the Atlantic Division are jam-packed with the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs, third-place Tampa Bay Lightning and fourth-place Bruins separated by just four points. The B's trail the Lightning by only one point entering Tuesday.
The fact is the Bruins will have a very difficult Round 1 matchup regardless of who they play. The Eastern Conference is absolutely loaded this season. Every series is going to be a grueling battle.
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Therefore, the Bruins need to worry less about potential playoff matchups and make health their biggest priority over the final three weeks of the regular season.
Without a full or close to fully healthy roster, the Bruins' postseason run will be quite brief.
A couple of Boston's most valuable players are currently nursing injuries.
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Chief among them is David Pastrnak, the superstar right winger who leads the team with 38 goals and ranks second in scoring with 71 points in 69 games. Pastrnak -- who suffered an injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets last week and hasn't played since -- has been on fire since B's head coach Bruce Cassidy put him on the second line alongside Taylor Hall and Erik Haula in early January. Only Leafs center Auston Matthews has scored more goals than Pastrnak since Jan. 1.
It's not a coincidence that Boston's power play is experiencing a major slump with Pastrnak out of the lineup. The power play went 0-for-16 on the team's recent four-game road trip. Pastrnak's 14 power-play goals are six more than anyone else on the B's roster.
Bruins fans might want a first-round series against the Leafs -- and that would awesome, for sure -- but it would be tough for the B's to eliminate Toronto without Pastrnak. Why is that? Well, Toronto is one of the league's highest scoring teams. The Leafs rank No. 2 in goals per game and own the top-rated power play at 29.4 percent. The Bruins need Pastrnak healthy and on the ice to match that offensive firepower from the Leafs (or any opponent, for that matter).
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Boston's injury woes aren't just limited to Pastrnak. The blue line has been hit hard of late, too.
Trade deadline acquisition Hampus Lindholm suffered an injury against the Detroit Red Wings last week and has missed the Bruins' last two games. He has been very good for Boston in his seven games with the team. The B's have outshot opponents 91-58, outscored them 10-5 and generated a 73-46 advantage in scoring chances in the 120:46 of 5-on-5 ice time Lindholm has played with Boston.
He's been a tremendous fit on the first pairing with Charlie McAvoy, giving the Bruins one of the best blue line duos in the world. Lindholm's elite two-way skill set is badly needed against the juggernaut forward groups of the Leafs, Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins come playoff time.
Matt Grzelcyk's injury is a concern as well. While he's not the two-way stalwart that Lindholm is, Grzelcyk's ability to skate out of trouble, drive puck possession, ignite the transition game and create scoring chances is quite valuable. Him and Brandon Carlo have been solid as a second pairing.
The injuries to Lindholm and Grzelcyk have left the Bruins with just Mike Reilly and Derek Forbort as natural left-sided defensemen on their blue line. That's obviously far from ideal. Jack Achan could come up from the Providence Bruins to add some much-needed depth on the left side, but he's not a legit top-four guy like Grzelcyk.
The Bruins have a real shot at getting back to the Stanley Cup Final. Since Jan. 1, the B's have the second-best record in the league and rank top seven in many key metrics at 5-on-5, including shot percentage, goals scored, scoring chances, expected goals against, etc.
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Boston also is deeper up front compared to recent years, thanks to Pastrnak, Hall and Haula firing on all cylinders on the second line, as well as the emergence of a reliable third line consisting of Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith.
But the margin for error is slim. One or two injuries could bring it all down. That's the case when the potential opponents in the playoffs are nearly all elite. The Bruins might need to beat the Leafs, Panthers and Lightning/Hurricanes just to reach the Cup Final. This path -- or one of the many other potential routes like it -- would be extraordinarily difficult.
The Bruins can survive it, but they need a fully healthy roster (or at least get very close to full health). The B's must do whatever is necessary to ensure that's the case for Game 1 of the first round. If the team has to punt on a few games to get guy rest, then so be it.
Health is far more important than seeding at this stage.